Air Crash Victims Fighting for their claims

Air Crash Victims Fighting for their claims

Mangalore Today News Network

Dubai, January 27: "Will he do something or will the injustice continue?"

That was the question on the mind of Abdul Rahman, a Dubai-based executive who lost his wife and nine-year-old son in the May 2010 Mangalore air crash that killed 158 people, as he prepared to meet Vyalar Ravi, India’s new Aviation Minister, in Dubai on Wednesday, January 26.

Rahman, who met Ravi along with other UAE-based families of the crash victims, appealed for the immediate settlement of compensation for families of the crash victims in light of the stalemate between them and the airline over compensation.

Memorandum submitted

Rafeeq Eroth, president of the UAE-based Malabar Pravasi Co-ordination Committee (MPCC), said around 30 families in the UAE had sought justice in a memorandum signed by M.G. Pushpakaran, chairman of the MPCC action council for the Mangalore air tragedy. It stated that families wanted compensation to be calculated based on the Montreal Convention 1999. "We understand that by India acceding to the Montreal Convention, the dependents of the victims are legally eligible to get $140,000 (Dh514,220). In case it’s the fault of the airline, relatives can claim more than $140,000," it said. "In this case, the probe stated that the fault is of the Air India pilot."

Air India and insurance agents wanted dues to be settled based on victims’ incomes, but the memorandum stated it would be difficult to arrive at the exact income, as the salary mentioned in labour contracts is "much lower than what the victims were actually drawing". Many were part of businesses operating under the sponsorship of Emiratis "without any proof of ownership to the deceased."
Gulftoday